Solace During Sickness
by Opaline Sapphire
Summary: "No!" she cried out as she pushed herself away from him. He let her go and warily eyed her. She looked incredibly frail with blanched skin, but her eyes still blazed with strength and indignation. "Those lilies are important for honey! We can't just get rid of them!" One shot.


_New to fanfiction. I love Owen in Animal Parade and was saddened to see so few stories about him here. This popped into my head and thought I should share it. _

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"I'm going to go milk the cows," she said as she exited the front door, closing the door before he could respond. He just sighed instead and walked over to the front window. Pushing the curtains aside, he watched her slowly walk into the barn and disappear. He took another sip of his coffee and sat down at the kitchen table, contemplating her most recent behavior.

His wife was quite possibly the most stubborn person he had ever met. She had this fierce determination to not let anything oppose her and no thing – or one – would stand in her way. He loved her for it. She wasn't cold or competitive; she simply wanted to do her best for herself, her family and her town. Lately, however, he'd been noticing she had become a little heedless of her actions and she wouldn't listen to him when he asked her to slow it down. She just smiled widely and shook her head, refusing to believe that anything was different.

As he sat at the table with his coffee, he could see her now beginning to water her crops in their front yard. He had offered to help, but she shook his charity away and claimed she needed no assistance. She told him that his time was better spent in the mines or at the blacksmith's shop. Frowning in disbelief, he instead poured himself a cup of coffee and decided maybe it was best to take the morning off to watch over her instead. He didn't want her to think that he was spying on her or didn't believe that she could do the work, so he lurked inside to avoid her gaze.

He noticed that she was watering the flowers sluggishly today. Knitting his brow with concern, he finished his coffee and walked over to the sink to clean out the mug. When he turned to look back out the window, he raised his eyebrows in surprise when he couldn't see her anymore in the field. He hurriedly walked over to the window to get a better view of the yard; he supposed it was possible that she just went back into the barn. Then he saw her, crumpled down among the lilies. Cursing, he grabbed his coat and ran outside.

When he reached her in the flower garden, she raised her hand up to stop him. Frustrated, he stood beside her and waited for her to lower her hand. Instead, she heaved and vomited all over the lilies. His frustration quickly changed to apprehension and he grabbed her hand to slowly pick her up from the ground.

"Don't," she stated firmly between gasps for air. Normally he would oblige, but this was the second time he had found her sick this morning and she had been throwing up nearly everyday now for the past 3 weeks. She was stubborn, but so was he – especially when it came to his family. He gently pulled her up so that she was sitting and facing him instead of lying down. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes to try to make it look like her situation didn't bother her. He just smiled at her to try and ease her concern.

"What was it this time?" he asked. She sighed, averting her gaze while trying to regain her composure.

"The lilies," she sadly replied. "They…" she swallowed back her nausea, "They smell like death."

"I'll get rid of them later," he replied as he stood to pull her to her feet. She wobbled weakly on her feet and he easily supported her by throwing his arm around her waist.

"No!" she cried out as she pushed herself away from him. He let her go and warily eyed her. She looked incredibly frail with blanched skin, but her eyes still blazed with strength and indignation. "Those lilies are important for honey! We can't just get rid of them!"

He shook his head in disbelief. When she first started getting sick every morning, he realized that it was not going to be easy to convince her that she couldn't still do everything. She was the best farmer and rancher in town; the town depended on her produce and animal products. She told him that she couldn't relax – the town needed her and they needed the town's money. It was going to be hard, but he had no idea it was going to be _this _hard.

"Molly, I don't care if they're important for honey!" he retorted. "If they're making you this sick, then we are selling them. Today!" He didn't want to be harsh, but clearly he needed to take a different approach. She angrily turned to walk back into the house, but before she could reach the door she fell to her knees and started vomiting again. He walked over to her again and noticed she was now sobbing into her hands.

"Molly, come on," he softly whispered as he wrapped his strong arms around her. Her small hands weakly grabbed onto his forearms and he again pulled her up. He pulled her into his torso and she continued her sobbing into the fabric of his coat. He reassured her that everything was okay and caressed her back and arms. When her crying became softer, he again threw his arm around her waist and led her back indoors.

Once inside, he gently set her in the bed and laid the covers on top of her. She closed her eyes, threw her knees to her chest and hugged herself. It didn't seem possible, but she looked even paler than she had outside a moment ago. He walked to the kitchen and filled a glass with water.

"Thank you, Owen," she murmured without opening her eyes after he set the glass down on the bedside table. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He couldn't stand to see her in so much pain like this and the worst part was that there was nothing he could do to appease it. No, the worst part was that he had done this to her. He had wanted a child so badly, but now he almost wished he had never mentioned anything to her at all.

He pushed the hair off of her face and then sighed. He had to keep reminding himself that he needed to be strong, especially when she was so weak. He left the bedroom and picked up the telephone. First he called the blacksmith's to let them know he had to take another day off. His uncle wasn't happy, but he couldn't say no under these circumstances. Next he called the doctor's office and asked the town's doctor, Dr. Jin, if he could make a house call today. Of course, of course, replied the doctor and promised to be there within the next half hour.

Owen peered into the bedroom at his now sleeping wife then haphazardly sat down on the couch. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and then gazed at the ceiling. A wet nose budged against his hand and he looked over to find their border collie sadly wagging her tail at him. He smiled and began to pet the dog, feeling a little more relaxed with her company. Twenty minutes later, there was a sharp knock at the door and Owen opened the door to let in Dr. Jin.

"Is she not getting any better?" Dr. Jin asked as he peered at Owen's disheveled appearance.

"No," he sadly replied with a shake of his head, closing the front door. "She can't keep anything down and she's still refusing to relax. She's running on empty, but keeps denying it. Is there anything that can be done?" Owen led the doctor to the bedroom then leaned against the doorframe as Dr. Jin carefully examined her. She was so exhausted that she didn't wake up by his presence.

When he was finished, Dr. Jin reached into his pocket and pulled out some medicine for Owen. "This should help with her nausea. It's important that she finds a way to keep the food down." Dr. Jin hesitantly peered at Owen, who also looked completely worn out. "Molly really needs to rest and wait for this to hopefully phase out, but you can't do this all on your own, Owen. Maybe we should ask some of the other villagers if they'd be willing to help out at the farm," the doctor suggested. "I know Anissa would be glad to help and I'm sure we can convince others to stop by. We all owe Molly so much, it's the least that everyone could do."

Owen looked at the doctor in surprise. He wasn't sure how he felt about asking for charity; he also knew that Molly would hate to bother anyone for help. Rubbing the back of his neck, he closed his eyes and wondered if they could actually do this without anyone else's help, however. He thought about her sleeping on their bed, curled up and still sweating from the sickness. Sighing, he nodded his head to Jin.

"Can you just do me a favor, though?" Owen asked him. The doctor eyed him carefully. "Just don't make it seem like we really need the help, okay?" Dr. Jin nodded his head and patted Owen on the shoulder, understanding what the man meant. Owen led him to the door, said goodbye and then lay down on the couch. He somewhat regretted accepting the offer of help, but he could see no other way around it. Closing his eyes, he drifted to sleep.

He awoke to a soft body crawling in next to him and a head resting on his shoulder. He pushed her hair out of his face and then tightened his embrace around her. She sighed contently and gently stroked his arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she lifted her face so that her eyes could meet his. The ruddiness had returned to her cheeks. He smiled at her and lightly lifted her face towards his to give her a sweet kiss on the forehead.

"There's nothing to apologize for," he replied, his gray eyes shining. She shifted and pulled herself so that her head fell next to his on the pillow. With her slightly protruding belly, it made lying on the couch a little more awkward than usual.

"What are we going to do?" she worriedly asked him. Her amber eyes were full of trepidation and her lower lip quivered. He lovingly stared at her then pulled her lips to his. He could feel her body relax against his and a soft sigh escaped from her throat. Releasing her from the kiss, he rubbed his rough thumbs against her face to wipe the tears from her face.

"We'll be fine," he finally answered. She felt relieved from the confidence in his voice. "But you have to stop pushing yourself so much, Molly. I know you don't want to hear this, but you can't do everything. At least not right now." She stared at him with sadness in her eyes, but he could tell that she was finally allowing those facts to sink in. No longer did she want to deny the truth, it caused too much pain. "Besides, it's not only your health that we need to worry about now." He placed his hand on her stomach and then looked deeply into her eyes.

"You're right," she asserted with a happy smile on her face. She grabbed his hand on her stomach and intertwined her fingers with his. Owen smiled back at her, glad to see the sadness finally lifting from her features. He cupped her face with his hands and again pulled her in for a kiss. She ran her fingers through his red hair and inadvertently shivered when he ran his fingers down her spine, causing her to end the kiss and throw her head slightly back. He quickly began to softly kiss her neck and she softly moaned as he wrapped her in his powerful arms.

"I know the perfect way to get you relaxed," he whispered lustfully into her ear as he picked her up and led her laughing into the bedroom.

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___Just author's FYI: I based the story off of Owen's saying the following when your character is pregnant in the game: "Be sure to take care of your health. It's not just for your own sake anymore."_


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